That Strange Book
by mihane100
Summary: Dipper didn't want to sleep. Not with those mysteries haunting him constantly. So, who better to comfort the exhausted 12 year old than his Grunkle himself? A fluffy one-shot I wrote for the Pines family because this family is just too adorable. Also, the author just couldn't help herself. Does include some character headcanons, but not Pinecest.


**Gravity Falls Oneshot**

He took comfort in that book. Dipper knew that he would never say so out loud, but he took comfort in that strange book. He knew that it was plenty creepy and mysterious, but in a way, he was glad for it. It meant that he could use it to prove to everyone, and himself for that matter, that he wasn't the paranoid weirdo a lot of people thought he was. He could use it to discover things that others could never discover in a million years. The mysteries hidden within were what kept him excited, and what made him out to be the hero when he used it to save his friends.

The book gave him a purpose for the summer. For too long, the shy, recluse book worm was always just 'Mabel's brother' or 'the quiet one'. Now he could be _so much more_. He could be a hero. When people mocked him for being a paranoid weirdo, he would only have to feel the book under his vest to know that he wasn't alone. That, for once, he wasn't just an annoying kid that believed in things that didn't exist. They _actually_ existed, and that mysterious author knew it. Even if he didn't know the author in person, he knew that as long as he had that book to prove that he wasn't useless, that he _wasn't_ just a kid making up stuff to seem cool, he was happy.

He would often stay up late at night reading the intricate pages of that journal, trying to soak in as much of those secrets as he could, which would often be the cause of not only a lot of weird dreams involving gnomes, but also a lot of sleep deprivation. He didn't mind, though, if it meant he could uncover something major. This summer, it was Dipper Pines' time to show the world what he was made of and what he could discover. Once he'd done that, he could do all the sleeping he wanted.

That was why it had bothered him so much when Grunkle Stan had 'borrowed' the journal and taken a while to give it back. He needed that book because, in a weird way, it understood him in a way that his sister never could. Sure, he loved her, and she was great to go mystery hunting with, but she didn't always understand just how serious all of this conspiracy stuff was, and he was tired of worrying about it all alone, curled up in bed with a flashlight. Sometimes, he would reach Bill Cipher's page by accident and just try not to sleep for as long as possible for fear of him invading his mind. That was what he was doing tonight, trying to stay as wide awake as possible.

Dipper suddenly let out a yawn. "Nope. Not gonna stay awake this way…" he whispered to himself in the dark. "I need a new plan. My bed is just way too comfy for this to work."

He looked over at his sister- asleep, as usual. He shrugged. Well, it was 3am. Picking up his book, Dipper stretched lethargically and quietly stepped his way through the hall. Maybe there was a horror movie on the TV that could keep him up. He entered the living room, only to find that the TV was already on, and someone else already sat in the one living room chair. He squinted his eyes to make out who was there.

"...Grunkle...Stan?" he questioned, as his eyes started to adjust to the bright light coming from the television.

Sure enough, it was his Great Uncle, still lazy as ever, watching some kind of horror movie on the television. Did that guy even _have_ a bedtime? The man raised an eyebrow at his nephew.

"Dipper? What're you still doin' up, kid?"

Dipper frowned. "I could ask you the same question." Seeing that this was definitely just Stan and not Bill trying to trick him as he had initially thought though, he stepped closer to the man so he could get a better look at him. Wow, his Grunkle looked TIRED. At least HE had a reason for it. What had the guy been doing up so late, anyway? Before he could ask something to that effect though, Stan spoke up.

"Go to bed, Dipper. You look exhausted." The concern in his voice actually surprised Dipper. He sounded just like he did the day they were attacked by zombies and the man had admitted that he'd known about the supernatural all along. It was… oddly comforting.

"Exhausted? What?" The boy denied in a shrill voice, not quite holding back the yawn that managed to escape through. "I'm fine, really."

Stan smirked and gestured to the seat he was sitting in. "Kid, c'mere."

With a shrug, Dipper complied and sat himself down in the empty space on the seat. Being pretty small, he fit quite easily. Stan wrapped an arm around his shoulders. _God_ he was warm.

"Ya know, when I was your age, I was like you. Super bookish, pretty quiet. At least, when I wasn't stealing money from rubes anyway. Man, those guys were suckers…"

Dipper raised an un amused eyebrow. "Is there a point to this?"

Stan smirked. "Patience, kid. I'm gettin' to it. Basically, I wasn't always the _awesome_ guy I am now." This earned a quiet chuckle from the boy, but he said nothing and let his great uncle continue. "I liked to hide everythin' that bugged me, so no-one knew it when something was botherin' me. Was up til the crack of dawn though, most nights, 'cuz I worried so much. Didn't help my school work at all and my old man started to notice."

Dipper frowned in his hold. "Why are you telling me this?"

The man sighed. "You stay up late a lot, dont'cha, kid?" His tone was akin to pity.

The boy laughed nervously. "W-what? Who… t-told you t-that?"

"Your dark circles speak for themselves," he told him matter-of-factly. He rubbed his nephew's arm encouragingly. "I'm just sayin', don't lose sleep over nothin'. Telling people what worries you helps."

Dipper's eyelids fluttered slightly and he stared at the floor for a few minutes, as if considering what his Grunkle had said. Finally, after what seemed like a few minutes, Dipper looked up at Stan, his eyes holding a look that was far less scared than it had been previously.

"Did it work for you?" He asked quietly. "Did telling your Dad work?" Maybe his Grunkle would understand if he told him about Bill...

Stan nodded. "Sounds cheesy, but yeah. Sure, my Pa and I never really saw eye-to-eye, but just admitting what bothered me out loud actually made it seem less sucky than it was. "

Dipper frowned. "Trust me, my thing is PLENTY sucky," he muttered quietly to himself.

The old man shrugged. "Well whatever. Just figured I'd let ya know that if ya wanna talk about anythin', I'm here, I guess. Well, unless it's girl trouble. Too outta practice to help ya with that one. That's your sister's area, apparently."

As he spoke, Stan didn't realise that he had subconsciously been stroking the boy's hair gently.

Dipper yawned again, but louder this time. "Thanks, Grunkle… Stan." Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, and his glassy eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What are you… doing up, anyway?"

Stan groaned, but the stroking didn't stop, even when he realised he was doing it. "Ugh, paperwork for the shack. I need to do it to keep the place open, but that doesn't mean it 'aint really boring," he explained. Dipper tried to ask him something else about the shack, but he could almost feel his brain turning to jelly as he lay there, overcome by the comfort. The boy didn't think Stan had ever been this soothing to him- ever. He didn't even think to question if his Uncle was lying to him about his reasons for still being awake or not. As the man tried explaining something else to him, Dipper could feel his eyes drooping closed, further and further.

Stan smiled affectionately at the dozy boy nodding off in his arms. There were times when that kid was just too smart for his own good and in way over his head, but he had to keep reminding himself that he was just that; a kid. A twelve year old boy that had a habit of getting involved in dangerous things that he wasn't a part of. No wonder he apparently couldn't sleep. A grown adult wouldn't be able to handle something like this, let alone a child. Stan should know, after all. He hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in thirty years.

Dipper meanwhile, was fighting to stay awake. However, what he now realised was that a large part of him just _didn't_ want to fight it anymore. He felt himself float into unconsciousness as he took in the comfort of Stan's warm body temperature and that rhythmic, almost entrancing hair stroking that was starting to easily lull him to sleep. In just a few moments, he was in the deepest sleep of his life, his once apprehensive facial expression totally relaxed in his grunkle's hold.

As he let out a quiet snore, Stan looked over at Dipper confusedly. Had he _actually _fallen asleep on him? He waved a hand in front of the boy's face, but it remained unresponsive. He was unconscious alright. He shook the boy gently.

"Dipper. Hey, Dipper. Wake up." No response. Not even a twitch. Jeez, that kid was a heavy sleeper.

Stan sighed. "What am I gonna do with you, kid?" he voiced aloud as he gently lifted his nephew up bridal-style. He needed to take the boy back up to his room since he obviously wasn't going to be able to stand up and move himself in this state. Then, Stan resolved, he would try to get some rest himself.

However, halfway up the stairs, the man made himself stop as he felt two familiar noodle-like arms wrap around his neck affectionately. He raised his eyebrows at the action, before smiling slightly.

"Dipper, let go."

The unconscious boy was stubborn and only held on tighter. Stan was sure he'd be choking if Dipper was actually remotely strong compared to him.

"C'mon, squirt. I've gotta get my sleep too."

Dipper grinned in his sleep and buried his face into the man's shoulder. "...l-love… yo...you..." he mumbled in a voice that was just about audible.

Stan couldn't remove the proud smile that spread itself onto his face.

"You too, kid. Now you've really gotta let go. Your grunkle's neck is dyin' over 'ere."

"Mhmm...ka..ay," was the boy's sleepy response as his arms abruptly went limp and fell away from the man. Apparently, Dipper was very compliant when he was half asleep.

Mumbling that he was too old for this, Stan altered the position of his hands so that he was still carrying the boy after he had been moving so much, and took him into the bedroom.

He carefully placed the boy's limp body onto the bed. "Seriously, Dipper," the man commented with a slight chuckle as he pulled the bed covers on top of him. "You are somethin' else."

"That's my bro for ya!" a familiar voice giggled from the other side of the room. Stan's eyes widened and he turned around.

"_Mabel? _Oh, jeez, kid, not you _too_."

Sure enough, Mabel Pines herself was sat up in her bed, grinning at her grunkle. "Yep!" She paused and started playing with the fluff on her floppy disk nightie nervously. "Is Dipping sauce okay?"

Stan shrugged. "He's fine, just tired probably. I don't think he ever fell asleep."

Mabel frowned. "Oh man, not _again_. He does that way too much. Lemme guess, he couldn't sleep so he came downstairs?"

"Well, yeah, actually. How did you…"

"I'm his twin. I know these things," was her matter-of-fact response.

Stan smirked and placed the journal he had taken up with Dipper onto the floor near his bed. However, the sight of it seemed to almost upset Mabel. and that was when the little girl looked down and for a split second. It was then that Stan swore he saw that bright expression falter into something else that looked rather foreign on the girl. She didn't speak for a few moments.

"Mabel?" Crud, was she okay? The girl looked up, and it was at that moment, that Stan realised just how fake the shining gleam of that braced smile was. She was wearing a concerned expression on her face and it wasn't until she finally spoke again, that the man realised why.

"He thinks I don't take all of that journal stuff seriously, you know." Her voice was surprisingly serious for who it was coming from. "Like I don't understand it or something, because I'm not all..." She pointed at him and put on a fake stern expression, her voice adopting a jokey old man quality to it. _"Weeee musttt fiiiind out the stuffff!" _Stan smirked and was about to mentally admit that this sounded more like the Mabel he knew, when her jokiness completely vanished and her tone was somber again. "But I do get this stuff. I do!" She looked over at her brother and her frown deepened. Stan, not knowing what much else to do without giving away _just_ how much he actually knew, sat himself on the bed next to the girl.

"Are you talkin' about all those monster mahoozits he's always readin' about in that book of his?"

Mabel nodded. "Yeah. A lot of them are actually really scaaaaary." She shuddered at the memory of Bill. Stan put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, so she forced the memory of Bipper aside and continued what she was saying. "Being silly is how I deal with these freaky things. It's the one thing that's totally normal when everything isn't. Why can't he see that?"

Stan frowned. "If it freaks you out so much, why do you help him with it?"

Mabel sighed. "Who _else_ is gonna? Besides, the Pines twins stick together. He can't do this stuff all alone." It hadn't even crossed Mabel's mind that she could be getting her brother in trouble right now by telling Stan about all of this, and Stan knew it. Still, he had no intention of punishing either twin for it. Still, he resolved that he'd keep a closer eye on the two from now on.

"If this is really botherin' ya, you've really gotta tell your brother. He'd understand if you explained it to him. Probably."

The girl nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right." She wrapped her arms around him in a hug- Stan's second hug that night. "Thanks for listening, Grunkle Stan. And not, like, going super bonkers crazy at me."

The man hugged her back with a small smile. Honestly, these kids were going to be the undoing of him. He let go when he heard the girl yawn.

"How long have you been awake, anyway?"

"Dunno. Since Dipper got out of bed?" she shrugged. "I was gonna go look for him if he wasn't back soon." She looked over at the glowing alarm clock next to her bed. "3:50? Yikes!"

Stan rolled his eyes with annoyance. "Ugh, great." He turned to Mabel and patted her pillow. "You better get some rest, kid. I'm putting you back on the counter tomorrow and I don't want you or your brother scaring off those suckers before they buy anything."

Mabel giggled and layed her body down. "Yeah." She yawned again and closed her eyes. "G'night… Grunkle Stan."

Against his better judgement, the man bent down and gave the girl a light kiss on the forehead as he saw her start to drift off into unconsciousness. "Goodnight, sweetie."

With that, he left the room, not noticing the wide, yet genuine smile that had formed onto the twin's face. Maybe he could check up on that portal one more time before finally going to sleep. After all, the twins were probably way too sleepy to question any bright lights or loud noises coming from downstairs now…


End file.
